The Asheville citizen. [volume] (Asheville, N.C.) 1885-1889, 1887-05-25
Bill Nye Contemplating.

awaiting the day whee the sea shall
| give up its dead and when the gems
tleman with the cork~leg will be
seen looking over the odds and ends
Eof some old battle field or the back
yard ofsome medical college for his
other limb.
Tor more than half century
these men ale at the same table and
slept on the same couch, and yet
they agreed in nothing. They were
bound together by tie which death
alone could dissolve
The indulgent reader has aleady,
no doubt, discovered that I refer to
the late gentlemen, Chang and Eng,
better known as the Siamese twins.
Thesnen, like most Siamess ,peo-
pie, had their origin in Siam M -
eign country Of the brightred eol0f
on the napef Asia.
AS Siamese alone, or simply as
twins, they would have attracted
little attention, and even by combfn-
ing the two and becoming Siamese
twins they would haYe died poor,
perhaps, but with connecting link
which united the two at the'base OF
the breast bune, they succeeded in
acquiring large fortune.
They have proved beyond u doubt,
| think, that Eenius cannot be ac-
quired it is a gift, 1t comes not
with the seeking.
Had little Chapgle and Engle gone
to school regularly all through their
earlier years and studied with all
their might, it could not have fitted
them for the life they afterwards led,
or caused them to attract the atten-
ton OF the whole world.
Nature does not fit every man to
be a Siamese twin. Science cannot
aid him in becoming one in after
years. Close study and application
cannot assist him.
To be a successful twin involves
promptness also. 1t is u matter
that cannot be postponed And
to be a successful Siamese twin in-
wolves eyen greater difficulties.
Chang and Eng were raised up to
meet a certain demand. The crisis
came, and they were taken there to
meet it. They came at time
when the world was clamorirg fox
pair Of buff twins united at the
sternun by means ofa light yellow.
frst-mortgage bond,
But Chang and Eng were not hap.
py even with their great wealth and
the fame they had acquired working
an entirely new vein.
Nature, which united them so
closely,s had not given them the
same ideas and thoughts. They
agreed on nothing is said.
One was a Knight of Pythias,
while the other was d Royal Arch
Mason, and the meetings were on
the same evening.
People who knew them said it
was painful to see the stronger of the
two pull the other twin away to a
knights of Pythias meeting in which
ne felt no interest, or take him to a
revival. when he wanted to 60 to a
colofedsbaIl.
ighbor tells me that while
Chang was a Baptist and believed
in Immersion, Eng was a doubter,
but had to go in with his brother
and be Immersed through q hole in
the ice.
One wanted to secede at the brea-
king out of the war. while the other
wanted to save theScountry intact
and fight under the starry banner
free.
Those whe will read the history
ofthis strange braceOf coffee>color-
ed gentlemen will agree with me
that, even though. you strike the
popular feeling and secure the pub
lie approval as a freak OF nature, it
is not all sunshine and gladness.
Chang and. Eng, though bound
together through life, could not
make their wives live together in
the same house even, and so they
were compelled to maintain sepa-
rate establishments andgo from one
to the other trying to allay discord.
One Of the twins was good man,
while it is said the other was a very
successful sinner. In case of res-
direction it is not yet fully settled
how it will be arranged, and the
question has frequently been raised
since their death whether they will
or will not jointly visit the realms
of the blessed and the snorting,
squealing precincts of the id.
l there are men who have pried
into the future and know how this
is, but / ana free TO confess that I
am densely ignorant in regard to it.
However it may be, one thing is
established, and that is that the
mantle of the Siamese twins has
never fallen upon those who could
successfully take their places for SO
long a period of time and keep out
competitors as they did.
And yet there are people who
claim that that this is the era OF
progress!